


Not the right person

by PeterHaleforAlpha



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hospital Visit, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 07:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3888262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterHaleforAlpha/pseuds/PeterHaleforAlpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duke lies in hospital and Nathan goes to visit him but he doesn't expect it to be this hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not the right person

**Author's Note:**

> This one is just a little something to process some of my own feelings at the moment. It was fitting for Nathan and it did me some good, so yeah, enjoy the reading :)

Nathan hadn’t seen his best friend like this ever before. He was pale, thin and looked like he had given up already. Nathan had tried to prepare himself for this scene but as he entered the hospital room and laid his eyes on Duke it was as if his whole preparation was for nothing at all. Storming out of the room again seemed like a pretty good idea now but Nathan stayed. He fetched a chair and sat down next to Duke’s bed.

“Hey,” he said not knowing what to say else.

“Hey,” Duke answered but it was quite and raw. It was more a croak than anything else.

“How are you doing?” Nathan knew it was a silly question. You could see how Duke was. Miserable was the word Nathan would use but he asked anyway because that was what you did when your friend was hurt, right? You asked him how he was doing so that he knew you cared and worried for him.

Duke didn’t answer though. He just shook his head lightly. Duke had experienced some severe injuries and was now too weak to do anything at all. He only could lie in his bed, nothing else.

It was a bad situation but Duke had beaten any infection in his body and he just needed to get better now – although it would take time.

And this fact was eating Duke up from the inside. You could see it in his eyes. He just felt like nothing would be okay again.

Nathan slid around in his chair. He was uncomfortable because he didn’t know what to say or to do. But then Duke gave him an answer. He moved his hand, just a little bit, towards Nathan and the detective understood.

He reached out and grabbed Duke’s hand although it had never been his first instinct to touch a person and it wasn’t now either but Duke had asked and Nathan couldn’t decline his wish.

Duke relaxed a little after that even a little smile appeared on his lips. Nathan on the other hand felt tenser than before. He was looking at their hand and the only thought that rushed through his mind was that he was the wrong person for this. He was never good at those things and it didn’t even have anything to do with his Troubles right now. Okay, he couldn’t feel Duke but that was not the reason he was scared.

He couldn’t spend comfort, not if he wanted anything more right now than wrap his arms around his body and hide in the next corner, far away from Duke’s bed. In order to spend comfort you had to be strong for the person who needed it and Nathan was not strong, not anymore, not since he walked into this room. Seeing Duke like this broke something in him. Nathan knew that Duke would get better, no question there, but it was still hard seeing him like this.

Nevertheless he held on to Duke, wrapped his fingers around his hand and caressed with his thumb over the back of Duke’s hand.

He did it although he didn’t feel like it because it was the right thing to do, because this was what everybody expected from him even if he was the wrong person for it. Audrey would have been better. She was good at those things but not Nathan.

“It will be okay again,” he tried his best.

Duke turned his head towards him. He didn’t say anything.

“It will be okay.” Nathan squeezed his hand to assure him he was sincere. “Just take some time to heal.”

Duke nodded and whispered: “You don’t have to stay.”

“I want to.” And this was not even a lie. On the one hand he wanted to stay and be there for Duke in a time where he needed someone and on the other hand he wanted to leave as quickly as he could just to not have to look at his best friend anymore. He was afraid that this imagine would burn itself into his head and he couldn’t forget it anytime soon. But he wanted to stay, wanted to hold his hand, wanted to smile at him even if he felt that he didn’t belong here because it was about Duke and not about him.

It didn’t matter how he felt. It was important that Duke got better and Nathan would hold his hand as long as needed if it only helped Duke to get healthy and strong again.


End file.
